Hair Poppin' Sharp

A

airtight_python

Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Messages
21
Once upon a time I figured out that I couldn't hold a consistent angle on stones... so I bought a Lanksy Professional sharpening system.

With only this set up from the box it's very easy to quickly get a shaving sharp edge... albeit while "pulling" hair a bit.

The finest stone of the bunch is the "Super Fine" at 1000 grit. I make a few passes of the blade with this stone oiled, knock off the bur and then a make a few progressively lighter strokes with the stone dry for my final edge.

Where do I need to go from here to get an edge capable of "tree topping" the hair on my arm? What finer stones, strops, rods and/or compounds would be worth my while to create the edge I want?

PS. I plan to add some S30V and D2 to the mix down the road. I may need to swap the Lanksy for a superior diamond system. Thoughts?
 
A strop helps tremendously.
Also the diamond system IMHO sharpens better faster and sharper than the normal one.
 
You sound like me :P.
I made a crude strop out of a leather belt (get one for like 50 cents from a Goodwill) and some cheap 3 dollar high polish compound from lowes.
Pasted it on it got me tree topping.
I then ordered a little higher end strop from hand american $14 shipped (bark tanned bovine is what I got) using no compound getting hair popping results.
My current quest is to find a $5 stick of CrO compound. :P I got all my stuff for free since I use survey sites to get my pay pal money .
 
I like to think I get my money's worth. ;)

I've got an old strop that it's about time to replace. I use semi-chrome metal polish and coat with Eezox Gun Care for tarnish protection... great stuff.

What grit/micron compounds are the guys using to get the "hair whittling" results?
 
.5 is what most people use, but some people use .1 diamond paste (extremely sharp edges is what those people have).
The compound from lowes is like 1~3Micron compound I haven't gotten it's exact micron confirmed yet.
But bare leather from HA gives you sharp results since bare leathers (is apparently) a lower micron level than CrO.
 
airtight_python said:
I like to think I get my money's worth. ;)

I've got an old strop that it's about time to replace. I use semi-chrome metal polish and coat with Eezox Gun Care for tarnish protection... great stuff.

What grit/micron compounds are the guys using to get the "hair whittling" results?
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.5micron CrO for me, the 1 bar of CrO will last me the rest of my life time, I'm a cheapass and haven't tried diamond paste yet :D.
 
I'm a cheap ass too, but I like high quality stuff... not the ideal paired traits. :D

So you guys shoot straight from the fine stone to the .5 micron CrO and then a bare vegetable tanned strop? Is a bare strop still finer than .25 or .1 diamond paste?
 
airtight_python said:
I'm a cheap ass too, but I like high quality stuff... not the ideal paired traits. :D

So you guys shoot straight from the fine stone to the .5 micron CrO and then a bare vegetable tanned strop? Is a bare strop still finer than .25 or .1 diamond paste?
Click to expand...
As I remember being told, correct me if I'm wrong, stropping paste is an ultra fine abrasive, and leather more or less alligns the edge rather than cutting away at it. But I could be wrong, I'm not sure.
 
And I think that's why some guys like compound vs leather and vica versa. For me, if I can split a hair, not tree top, I'm satisfied. I like super sharp too, but if it'll shave, I'm happy. But I've yet to have a tree topping edge so if I had one that might change things.
 
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